My daughter will be six weeks very soon. Everyone has told me that she would begin to have more of a consistency to her sleeping habits and eating habits around this time. It seems there is no consistency. Sometimes she sleeps almost all day and then sleeps well at night, other times she has trouble going to sleep at night. This even seems to be getting worse rather than better. I'm just really confused about naptimes and bedtime when all she really does right now is sleep.
I never found my babies to be on a good sleeping/napping and eating schedule til they were 12 weeks or over.
relax, it's normal! just try to notice and follow her cues about her sleep needs to support her. she doesn't need to have a schedule, just the appropriate responsiveness at the times she indicates spontaneously. she will work it out on her own in her own time, perhaps even weeks or months from now! kids naturally regulate in their own good time.
My advice would be to just go with it at this point... I stressed about all of that with my first son, and now with my second I find it's much easier to just "go with it" and not stress. He is 3 1/2 months old now and just starting to develop more of a schedule with napping, etc. At 6 weeks he was still sleeping so much of the time that you couldn't say he had a schedule, other than the time between feeds. You could establish a sort of routine with her, and I would recommend the "Sleep, Eat, Play" method (so she doesn't develop the habit of having to nurse to fall asleep - that might get frustrating in the future), but in all I would just relax and enjoy her. It goes by so fast and usually "works itself out in the wash" as the saying goes. :-)
Other people may not agree with this, but I believe you need to give consistency to your baby's day. When my son was 6 weeks old, we were already starting a napping/eating schedule with him. When it was time for the next feed, I woke him up for it. No later than 1.5 hours after that (or earlier if he was tired), he went down for his next nap. He got used to it, and generally took about 4 1 hour long naps during the day when he was around 6 weeks old. At night, we'd put him down after his 7ish bottle and woke him again for another feed at 10 or so. He'd then be up usually twice before 7 am the next morning. Of course, the nighttime feeds decreased as he got older. He got used to sleeping more at night, and he's been a good sleeper since then, going down with almost never any trouble for naps or bedtime. I always put him down awake. My cousin, the mother of 5 children, was successful doing this same thing with all of her children.
ps. I also read and used many of the guidelines from On Becoming Babywise and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.
I would not worry about it, and just follow the baby's cues. I think a routine is more important...for example, when you see baby is tired, do the same things before sleeping. It is way too early to be worrying about following the clock. I think around 6 weeks, their nights and days are starting to fall into place, but there is no way a 6 week old should follow a schedule (especially if nursing). Your baby is going to change and have different needs depending on growth, etc. and just when you think you have it figured out, it will all change again!
Hi A.,
I'm a first time mom too and I have a beautiful 6 month old baby girl. When she was 6 weeks, she did not have any consistency in her sleeping habits either. Everyone told me she would but she didn't. Then, my mom told me that she is just too young to have naptimes and a solid bedtime. So, I took her advice and just chilled out about it and let her sleep during the day, when she wanted to and her bedtime was 8 but if she fell asleep later or earlier it was o.k. Then, as the weeks went by, I tried to slip a nap in in the morning at a similar time each day but she also would sleep whenever she wanted the rest of the day. She soon came to expect that nap and I was able to have a more consistent time for that nap. Then, after a while, I did the same for the afternoon nap. Now, at six months, she takes a morning nap (around 10:30) and an afternoon nap (around 2:30) and she goes to bed at 7 every night. Her naps aren't always very long but at least she is on a schedule. Because her naps aren't always very long, she will occasionaly take a couple of cat naps throughout the day but not all of the time. This is O.K. because she sleeps through the night. So, my advice to you is to relax. Your baby is still young and she will let you know what she needs right now. Hopefully this helps you. I was pretty nervous about this at the beginning too!
K.
The first 6 weeks are usually the hardest. I found it best to establish a routine. Babies are needy and having a Mom that is constantly guessing about what the baby wants is frusterating. Set a routine that allows you & the baby to know what to expect and follow. I am a mother of 4 boys and my youngest is 7 1/2 months old. I highly recommend the book On Becoming Babywise. It establishes a healthy feeding time, wake time, and bed time routine that allows the baby to easily follow. You are the Mom, the parent, set a routine for your child and they will naturally follow and know what to expect. I did this w/all of my boys and all of them were sleeping through the night by 2 months old. I did it breastfeeding, but it works with the bottle too. And you, as a Mom, are put more at ease because your baby is happier and satisfied. Good Luck.
Check out the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child--the author Dr. Weissbluth says things don't even out til about 3 months; until then, they're not at all consistent.
their is no consistancy
